Determining The Polarization Response Of The FPM-8220 Fiber Optic Power Meter Tech Note

One of the fundamental specifications of any fiber optic component is how its transmission depends on input polarization. Even components viewed to be "polarization independent" have some level of Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL). The following table provides a reference of typical maximum values for PDL for various optic components and instrumentations.

Polarization sensitivity can be directly measured by recording the transmission through the component using a polarization independent power meter while intentionally changing the state of polarization of the input. The Polarization Dependent Response (PDR) of the power meter being used should be much less than the component being tested, such as those listed in the table above. This is true of the ILX Lightwave FPM-8220 Fiber Optic Power Meter and compatible FMH-8715 and FMH-87107 Fiber Optic Measurement Heads. It is valuable to know the typical PDR of these measurement heads that may contribute to the uncertainty of your PDL measurement.